By Tardsie

You Wouldn’t Normally Expect To See A Lot Of Gay People At An Erasure Show, But Life Is Stranger Than Fiction Sometimes.

Several years ago I was at an Erasure concert in Southern California. After the opening act, a painfully unfunny set by comedienne Margaret Cho which mainly consisted of mocking her immigrant mother’s English¹, I headed to the bathroom before Erasure took the stage.

“It Not Racism. It Edgy Comedy. Me So Funny!”

Unusual for a guy’s restroom, the toilets were abuzz with conversation. The topic was Margaret Cho.

“I didn’t think she was very funny,” somebody said.

“Give her a break,” somebody else said. “She was all right.”

Then one guy asked, “Didn’t she used to have a really big crystal meth problem?”

To which a disembodied voice replied from the depths of one of the stalls, “Oh, honey–didn’t we all?”

I’ve Been *Mostly* Successful In Avoiding These Activities.

¹Don’t get me wrong, folks–I enjoy making fun of non-English speaking people as much as the next guy–and probably a whole lot more–but there seemed no point to this, no examination of cultural differences, no clever interplay on Old-World vs. New-World customs, just “my mom is such a dumb foreigner.” ∞ T.

Thanks, Carrie–the image is indeed delightful.
And am I to be ashamed about seeing Erasure or seeing them in Southern California? If it’s SoCal, then I’ve also seen them in Seattle, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Boulder and maybe a couple other places I’ve forgotten. If it’s Erasure itself I’m to be ashamed of, then I am good and truly fucked.

Hey, don’t let anybody pick on the music you love. As long as he’s waring a condom

The music just doesn’t feel the same that way, though.

That KISS line is A+. I have a similar (but not as good) story. One time, at a Dylan show in Santa Barbara, Bob started to play “All Along The Watchtower.” My buddy turned to me and said, “Isn’t this a Hendrix song?”

That’s not so terrible, though, because even though Dylan wrote the song, he was so impressed with Hendrix’ version that he now essentially covers it (and puts it that way).

“Hendrix’s cover of Watchtower is the perfect example of how Dylan is one of the greatest songwriters and worst singers.”

I regret that I was not the first person to write this, because it perfectly sums up my opinion of Bob Dylan. Instead of writing it, I’ll have to settle for covering it, Hendrix-style . . . which I guess means I may end up getting credit for it in the end. Hooray!

I am often well and truly mocked for my Journey obsession, (especially since Steve Perry’s gone) but it’s mostly old, straight people I’ve seen at Journey concerts. I did see a few young punks at the last show who were guitar heads obsessing over Neal Schon, but for the most part it’s straight geezer couples, who have enough scratch to waste on those $8 plastic bottles of beer.

The geezer dudes probably are still looking to score after the show, but they’re going to need some pharmaceutical help to do it.

I’ve never heard of Erasure. Maybe that’s a good thing, but it’s probably because I’ve not paid attention to the current music scene since about 1985.

because I’ve not paid attention to the current music scene since about 1985.

That would explain it–Erasure hit the scene in 1986.

In all seriousness, though–you likely have heard an Erasure song or two, most likely sometime between 88-94, which was their pop-chart heyday. I think you probably prefer music with a little more “oomph!” though. Erasure is electronic pop, a less-serious Depeche Mode.

I don’t think I’ve heard of Erasure..I was more into the heavy metal/hard rock scene back then (with some Journey thrown in). (but the convo in the bathroom made me really laugh!)
Glad you are back, Smak!

Good to see you back, Smak. Now if WordPress would get the email notifications fixed so I don’t keep missing posts…. I seriously dislike the reader if I haven’t made that abundantly clear before…. For the record, I have heard of Erasure, but I never really listened to them.

Welcome back, Smaktakula! You’ve been missed. I’m excited enough to see you back that I’m not even going to tease you about listening to Erasure, which is good—for me. I saw Bon Jovi at Red Rocks once, and while it was only so I could check out one of their opening bands, it pretty much forever ruined my ability to mock others’ musical taste.

Thanks! You know, I used to think Margaret Cho was really funny. I don’t know if I outgrew her or if her style changed (I think it’s the latter). And I don’t see how you COULDN’T have fun at an Erasure show–it’s such a delightfully goofy spectacle, a defiantly unselfconsious counterpoint to the heavy doses of jaded irony that seem so prevalent from performers today, who seem so serious, so self-important.